30 September 2015

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty has been one of the European aircraft manufacturer’s partners for a very long time and is playing a key role on the A350-900 program.

Source: rokbani wael

“We were selected to design and develop the carbon brakes and wheels, and all the systems to steer and maneuver the nose and main gear on the various A350 XWB versions.“

Source: Oliver Louis

More than 300 Messier-Bugatti-Dowty engineers and technicians worked on designing and producing equipment for the A350 XWB.

“We will also be supplying the main landing gear on the A350-900 version,” explained Messier-Bugatti-Dowty Program Director Hélène Moreau-Leroy.

Source: Airbus

“Airbus decided to use tried and tested technologies for its landing gear and systems on its new aircraft, to ensure they were mature at the entry into service, but nevertheless set very ambitious weight targets, which were a major challenge during the development phase,” added Hélène Moreau-Leroy.

To meet this requirement for lighter landing gear, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty significantly increased high-resistance titanium content in its various parts (in particular in its structural components).

Source: Gilles Astre

7 Messier-Bugatti-Dowty plants are working on A350 XWB production in France, the US, Canada, China and the UK.

There is another notable novelty; the A350 XWB is the first Airbus with a guidance system using differential braking, which makes it possible to steer the plane on the ground if the hydraulic or electronic steering systems fail.

“The aircraft will also come with our 3rd-generation tire-pressure monitoring and wireless information transmission system,” added the Program Director.

“And the efforts to cut mass during the wheel and brake engineering phase allowed us to slash weight compared to rival solutions.”

29 September 2015

Premium AEROTEC has handed
over the rear side shells for the first A350-1000 to Airbus at its Augsburg
site.

Each of the 2 side shells is
over 17 meters in length and almost 5.5 meters wide.

Source: Premium Aerotec

This makes them the largest
aircraft components to be manufactured in CFRP in Europe.

Together with the floor
structure and the CFRP pressure bulkhead, which are both developed and produced
in Augsburg, this will be assembled by Airbus in Hamburg to create the complete
rear fuselage section of the first A350-1000.

SOurce: Lindner Fotografie

“Just 2 weeks after handing
over the front fuselage section to our customer in Nordenham, today we are
celebrating hand-over of the first 2 rear side shells, yet another milestone in
the A350 program.

Source: Fred Schöllhorn

That makes us confident that
we can successfully master industrial ramp up for this program, which is so
important for us,” said Joachim Nägele, Program Head for Premium AEROTEC,
during a low key hand-over ceremony in front of 250 Premium AEROTEC staff and
representatives from the customer, whom he thanked for the successful
collaboration.

The side shells for the -1000
are over 3 meters longer than those of the sister model, the A350-900

Premium AEROTEC is
manufacturing the side shells of the rear fuselage (section 16/18), the floor structure
and the pressure bulkhead at its Augsburg site.

SOurce: Lindner Fotografie

This site is also producing
the individual components of the CFRP door frame, which will be assembled at
the Varel site.

In Nordenham the company is
manufacturing the complete front fuselage section 13/14.

Based on the press release “Premium AEROTEC
delivers its biggest ever CFRP component”

28 September 2015

The head of Dubai's Emirates, Tim Clark said 2 years ago concerning the dozens of potential orders for Boeing 777X, or the A350-1000, or both that are on stake: "As Airbus knows, I want to see it on its wheels with its engines running and preferably in the air".

"I am afraid I am not prepared to accept anything until I see telemetry giving performances of the engines and the fuel"."The A350-1000 is definitely one that we would be looking at. But first of all - show me."

Source: Airbus

Airbus has been able to show A350-900 performance data to Emirates but never of A350-1000 data that it is on the assembly process in the preFALs. On track but still in the assembly process.

Eyes on the Dubai Air Show next November will be watching for what could be would be this year’s prize catch: whether Emirates Airlines will be ready to place the oft-talked about order for 50-70 widebody aircraft: Airbus A350-900s, A350-1000s, Boeing 787-10s or Boeing 777Xs.

Negotiation final phase has started.

Based on the article "Countdown to A350 first flight" published in Reuters.

27 September 2015

Sources in both China and Russia indicate that the formalization of the long-discussed agreement to build a new widebody aircraft in China using Russian intellectual property will be approved later this month and finalized by the end of the year.

Under the agreement, Russia will supply the intellectual property from the Ilyushin IL-96 widebody jet, which will serve as the underpinnings for the design of a new aircraft, currently names the ShFS by UAC and expected to commercially be named the COMAC 929 in China.

The joint venture will be a 50-50 split, with a total investment of about $13 billion required.

The ShFS is expected in 2 models, a 300 and 400 seat model with a range of 2,700 nautical miles to serve internal markets within China and Russia.

Roll out of the first flying prototype is planned for 2021, certification in 2023, and serial production and deliveries beginning in 2025.

In the near term, it is unlikely that the new aircraft would be a serious threat to Airbus and Boeing widebodies in international markets, but would negatively impact their sales in China.

China is a patient country, and has targeted aviation as a key future market. While they are still learning, they recognize that their strategy is long-term and will require 20-30 years.

The new aircraft is merely a first step along a longer path to take a large share of the international market.

25 September 2015

Finnair aims
to become the 1st airline to operate an Airbus A350 service to the USA, with
plans to use a -900 for New York JFK flights before the end of the
year.

Source: Airbus

The Oneworld carrier
outlined its intention to deploy the type to the USA later this year in
detailing a "slightly adjusted" A350 launch schedule.

Source: Airbus

Discussions on
possible start dates are ongoing between the carrier and JFK officials
with a view to beginning services in December, said Rikke Munk Christensen, Finnair's
head of traffic planning, at World Routes 2015 in Durban.

Source: Airbus

She declines to say
definitively that the flights will begin before the end of the year, saying
only that more details will be available in 2 to 3 weeks.

Source: AlexDuSud

If Finnair launches
A350 services to the USA in December, it would beat fellow Oneworld Alliance
partner Qatar Airways to become the 1st airline to do so – although by a
matter of weeks.

Source: A380_TLS_A350

Doha-based Qatar will
debut the A350-900 on its flights to Philadelphia on 1/January/2016.

Based on the article “Finnair
targets US debut for A350” published in FlightGlobal.

24 September 2015

The key Trent XWB-97 engine is the flying testbed. Serial
No. 26000 has arrived to the FAL in Toulouse where it will installed on the A380
MSN1.

This engine is close to the production standard and will be
the first engine to fly and all the tests associated with the production engine
need to be created.

The engine run in July at Rolls-Royce and was delivered to
Toulouse in early-August so Airbus now can pod it.

The 97,000-lb.-thrust engine due to fly in coming weeks is
the 1st of 2 units destined for initial evaluation flights on the Airbus A380
flying testbed MSN001, and will be used for evaluating engine operability,
relights and handling.

Beyond engine-specific testing, Airbus also intends to use
the XWB-97 on the A380 for integrated nacelle tests.

“It will do this to take credit for A350 certification and
flights will run well into 2016, so it is not a short program,” said Simon
Burr,Rolls-Royce’s COO for Civil Large
Engines

Unlike the -84, which first flew on the A380 in
February/2012, the higher- thrust engine Trent XWB-97 will not have undergone
simulated altitude evaluation in a test cell before it takes to the air on the
flying testbed.

The flight testing on Airbus’s MSN1 A380 is designed to
fine-tune powerplant integration and “de-risk” the flight test program on the
A350-1000, expected to begin at the end of Q3/2016.

The first A350-1000 is due to fly in end Q3/2016 and is
scheduled to enter service in 2017, 2 years after the Trent XWB-84-powered
A350-900.

21 September 2015

Finnair
has slightly adjusted its Airbus A350 long-haul launch schedule, due to changes
in the expected delivery schedules of the company’s first A350 aircraft, the
needs of the crew familiarization program, and other operational factors.

Source: Clement Alloing

The
company wants to offer the best possible customer experience for its customers,
and has therefore adopted a slightly more conservative launch schedule than
previously indicated.

Source: Airbus

Hand over ceremony is scheduled on 7/October at
Helsinki, with the 1st commercial flight scheduled on 9/Oct to Amsterdam and
Oslo.

For
the first few weeks, the new aircraft will serve crew familiarization flights
in Europe.

These
are the planned A350-900 familiarization flights:

Helsinki
– Amsterdam9/Oct

Helsinki
– Oslo9/Oct

Helsinki
– Barcelona until 10/Oct-24/Oct

Helsinki
– Malaga until 10/Oct-24/Oct

Helsinki
– Hamburg11/Oct

Helsinki
– Brussels12/Oct

Helsinki
– Berlin Tegel13/Oct

Helsinki
– Gothenburg13/Oct

Helsinki
– Dusseldorf14/Oct

Helsinki
– Vienna14/Oct-20/Nov

Helsinki
– Munich15/Oct

Helsinki
– London Heathrow WAS: 6/OctIS: 15/Oct

Helsinki
– Copenhagen WAS: 8/OctIS: 18/Oct

Helsinki
– FrankfurtWAS:
7/OctIS: 19/Oct

Helsinki
– Paris CDGWAS:
8/OctIS: 31/Oct

Source: Jujug Spotting

Finnair’s
1st Airbus A350 XWB enters into long-haul service on 21/November when the
aircraft flies from Helsinki to Shanghai.

The
next A350 long haul destinations include Beijing (from 4/December), Bangkok,
Hong Kong and Singapore as previously announced.

Source: Airbus

Finnair
will also take the aircraft to New York later this year, becoming the first
airline in the world to fly to the US with this new aircraft type.

Based
on the press release “Delivery ceremony of Finnair’s first Airbus A350 XWB
aircraft to take place on October 7; long-haul service to Shanghai to start
November 21”.

20 September 2015

Rolls-Royce
production assembly site in Derby is being upgraded and the $46 million invested
are primarily focused on the installation of 4 pulsed lines, 2 of which are
already in action.

Source: Getty-images

The first 2
lines, one for the fan and one for the core, enable the units to be built up
vertically, representing a break in tradition for Rolls.

Each line has
6 positions, with engines “indexing”, or moving position down the line from
station to station every 24hr.

Source: Getty-images

The floor of
the line moves on rails, allowing the engine to shift to the next station
without having to be craned into place, as was the case under the original
assembly process.

The next 2
lines will provide a site for the horizontal integration of the fan and core
modules and an areafor final preparations
before dispatch; this includes borescope inspection, cleaning and packaging.

Source: Getty-images

The pulsed lines
are “agnostic” to engine type and currently are being used to produce both
Trent 1000s and XWBs. However, the investment is geared toward the coming
growth in deliveries of the A350, firm orders for which translate into an
orderbook for more than 1500 engines.

Source: Getty-images

“The line
will be used for building Trent XWB-84s and -97s, and mostly -84s over the next
2 years” said Simon Burr, Rolls-Royce COO for civil large engines.

“Rolls
expects to deliver 70 XWB-84s in 2015 and ultimately we reach a rate of 1 a day
over the next 2,5 years; so that is 1 every working day by2017, or around 250 per year” he added.

Source: Getty-images

“It is
important to note that the investment in the industrial system and the
development of pulsed lines reduces the time needed to build each engine, as
well as the lead time. There has been a lot of effort put into the XWB to make
production easier” he said.

18 September 2015

The tail cone
is manufactured in Spain; the lateral shells at Illescas composite site and later
the assembly is completed at Getafe site.

The Section
19 is later shipped from Getafe to Hamburg for build up with the Section 16-18
panels.

Source: Premium AEROTEC

On the same
date, Premium AEROTEC's Nordenham site handed over the complete front fuselage
section for the same 1st A350-1000.

This fuselage
section will be completed by a CFRP door frame, bringing significant savings in
weight and costs.

Delivery of
the rear fuselage section from Augsburg is scheduled for the end of September.

Source: Lindner Fotografie

During the
ceremony at Nordenham, Daniel Wenninger, Program Head at Airbus for the front
and rear fuselage of the A350-1000, said: "In addition to higher loads and
the use of new structural technologies, the over 3-metres longer fuselage
section for the -1000 made considerable modifications in the design and
construction necessary compared to its sister model A350-900. "

"The team managed
to devise a first-class design for this highly complex aircraft component and
to deliver it on time and in the desired high quality. That is something they
can be proud of."